FRIDAY, 7:24pm: In a text message, Valentine said no job offer has been made yet, and that the "process will take some time," according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.

1:00pm: A person involved in the negotiations confirmed to the Associated Press that Valentine was speaking with the Marlins today. The sides are moving closer to a deal (link via the Boston Herald).

9:15am: Valentine told Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post that any report suggesting he starts Monday is "absolutely not true." The Marlins plan to interview D'Backs third base coach Bo Porter. Capozzi, who believes Heyman's report is true, points out (via Twitter) that Valentine has to deny it.

8:19am: The Marlins will hire Bobby Valentine to manage the team, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). Valentine and the Marlins have at least a tentative deal in place (Twitter link).

Heyman says Valentine will start by Monday, when the Marlins play the team he once managed – the Mets – in Puerto Rico. That will add intrigue to the series, but will prevent interim manager Edwin Rodriguez from managing in his country of birth. Rodriguez, who is 1-1 since taking over the Marlins, became the first Puerto Rican-born manager in baseball history this week.

Comments

While I share that sentiment, unfortunately it wouldn’t matter if the team wasn’t playing well for Jerry. The Wilpons and Valentine don’t get along. Meanwhile they’ve loaded up the organization with their choices for Jerry’s replacement if things do go south. Sadly, Valentine’s not even a blip on their screen.

Honestly, I was hoping that the Mets would tank, just so Manuel (and possibly Minaya) could be fired, and after they were fired, to play half-decent ball, if not competing for the division, but, alas, it did not happen.